Bethshean

We have recently mentioned Bethshean from the perspective of Mt. Gilboa.  This is a view from ground level just below the tel, from the Roman Cardo Maximus.  Once an Egyptian governor’s seat during the Middle Bronze Age, Beth Shean would change hands often, eventually moving from the main tel to the fully Romanized city below—due mainly to its strategic location in the Jordan Valley.

Aphek Roman Cardo

Aphek was already ancient even before it was granted to the tribe of Asher during the period of conquest.  Located on a strategic bottleneck of the coastal roads, this was a valuable site which Herod the Great redesigned as a Romanesque city, complete with a  theater and cardo, or main North-South street (pictured above).  He renamed it Antipatris, after his father, and it was to this city that Claudias Lysias brought Paul to escape the Jewish plot.